Heidelbergian Children's Catechism (age 8- 10 years)
Lord's Day 4
God wanted the same thing from Adam and Eve that He also wants us to do.
You have a little brother who is four years old. I am sure you won’t ask him to help you with math. Of course not: a four-year old can’t do math. We cannot obey the Ten Commandments which God has given to us. We talked about that before. Now a question comes up in your mind: then why does God tell me to keep these commandments? I cannot ask my little brother to do something he cannot do. Why does God ask something of me I cannot do?
Do you remember that we talked about Adam and Eve who lived in paradise? They were the first human beings, the father and mother of all people who would be born. You could say that their children were all included in Adam and Eve. And their grandchildren and great grandchildren, and so on.
These two, Adam and Eve, had heard what God had said. They knew what they should do and what they should not do. And they were able to live in obedience to God’s commandments because God had made them good. Adam and Eve began living as God wanted them to do. And that made them happy. What God wants is always the best for us. But what happened? The people changed because they became disobedient. And now they could no longer live as God wanted. Did our Father in heaven change? No. He does not change from one day to the next. He wanted the same thing from Adam and Eve that He also wants us to do. He still expects that we do his will. And God can demand that, for He had made us. God was angry when Adam and Eve sinned. And God does not change. He is still angry when people sin, when they do bad things rather than obeying him. God is angry. But where is God’s mercy? Is He not merciful to us? Yes, of course He is.. And in the next couple of months we will often speak about that. But first you have to learn that the sins people commit make God angry. He is merciful, but that does not take away his anger.